USF president cautious over tuition for STEM ed

School presidents continued urging Florida lawmakers on Wednesday to let them set higher tuition if lawmakers want more science and techonology grads. But when University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft spoke to House education committee members, she offered a more cautious appeal.

Genshaft told lawmakers the state needs to keep low-income students in mind if it decides to allow schools to charge market-based tuition to help pay for more expensive science, tech, engineering and math programs.

"I don’t have a problem with the market-based (tuition) as long as we can care for the students who are Pell (grant) recipients," Genshaft told lawmakers. "I don’t want to see students that have less of an income not be able to enter a field that they’re talented in. So as long as we can cover that level, then I have no problem with the market based."

Genshaft is among six presidents speaking Wednesday to the House education committee, which is studying how to overhaul the public universities and colleges in Florida. Florida and Florida State universities' leaders spoke Friday.

Posted by David DeCamp at 2:03 PM on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
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